Tale as Old as Time
by the1koolkitty
Summary: Bakura of Kaitou is the most heartless king in the world, until the enchantress Kisara changes him into a beast in punishment. Can Bakura find true love in a whitehaired bookworm named Ryou? Beauty and the Beast parody RyouBakura side YugiYami and JoeyMai
1. Author's Preceding Words

_**Author's Preceding Notes**_

**(Kitty, Lina, Yugi, Atem, Bakura, Ryou, Seto, Joey and Marik are exploring the creepy ruins of an old castle. Ryou keeps jumping at every little noise, whether a door squeaking or a bat flying past them.) **

**Ryou: (jumps at a rat scampering on the floor near his foot) _AH_! (grabs Bakura's arm involuntarily in fright)**

**Bakura: (aggravated) Damn it, you pathetic _weakling_…get your hands _off_ me and stop jumping at everything that _moves_!**

**Ryou: (shivering) I can't _help_ it! This place is so _creepy_!**

**Lina: That's what makes it _cool_, you ninny!**

**Ryou: (forgetting his fear, very angry) I AM _NOT_ A NINNY!**

**Lina: (shrinks back at Ryou's ferocity)**

**Marik: Hey, Kitty?**

**Kitty: Yeah?**

**Marik: What are we doing here?**

**Yugi: Are we here to talk to some doomed spirits with your Ouija board again? The ones from last time weren't very _nice_…**

**Atem: (muttering) _Tell_ me about it…all angry because _I'm_ still in the world of the living… (shouts as if the ghosts are there and listening) I never _wanted_ to be trapped in a puzzle, you know! There are _other_ things I had been dreaming of doing!**

**Kitty: Actually, we're here because of the story that surrounds this castle.**

**Joey: Story? What story?**

**Seto: (scoffs) Who _cares_?**

**Kitty: (vein throbbing in her temple) If you were _so_ uninterested, Kaiba, then why the _fucking_ hell are you _here_? I _could_ have introduced my next shonen-ai fic _without_ you! **

**Marik: _Another_ shonen-ai fic?**

**Bakura: Is _that_ what this whole thing is about?**

**Kitty: _Duh_.**

**Joey: (exasperated) So what is it this time? _The Haunted Mansion_?**

**Kitty: (sarcastic) Ha, ha, ha…very funny. And no, it's not. **

**Yugi: Then what is it, Kitten?**

**Kitty: (mysteriously) It's a story…based on the fairy tale…that was based on the story…that took place in this very castle.**

**Marik: (intrigued) Really? And what is that?**

**Kitty: (dramatically) It's a story…of a _precious_ Beauty…and a _terrible_ Beast.**

**Bakura: (eager) Hey, that sounds… (stops, suspicious) Wait a second! That story was done by _Disney_…that's the one with the talking candlestick, isn't it?**

**Kitty: (scowls) Yes, the Disney version of this story _did_ have a talking candlestick…named Lumiere, by the way, Bakura; it's not polite to talk about people with vague names.**

**Bakura: (crosses his arms) _Humph_!**

**Ryou: (sighs) So…which ones of us are going to be humiliated _this_ time?**

**Kitty: Basically all of you. **

**Joey: Aw, man…Kitty, don't tell me I'm going to have to kiss Kaiba again!**

**Kitty: Actually, Joey…you and Seto are the only ones of our number who is off the hook in that regard.**

**Joey: W-_WHA_? _REALLY_?**

**Seto: (sighs in cool relief) _Hallelujah_. **

**Kitty: Yeah…Joey's going with Mai this time…only good straight couple in Yu-Gi-Oh, in my opinion.**

**Joey: (grins broadly)**

**Atem: Wait…you said that Joey and Kaiba are the only ones off the hook?**

**Kitty: Yep. You and Bakura are still stuck with your Hikaris.**

**Bakura and Atem: (groan)**

**Yugi: (shrugs) Oh well…who's lucky enough to be in Belle's yellow dress, Kitten?**

**Kitty: No one really…but in Belle's role is Ryou.**

**Ryou: (sighs) Why am I not surprised?**

**Bakura: And I'm the _Beast_, huh? Can the Beast end up ripping the girl's head off in the end?**

**Kitty: (irritated) _NO_. **

**Bakura: (glares sullenly at Kitty)**

**Marik: But…where do _I_ fit into all this?**

**Kitty: (awkward) Well, Marik…um…you see…about that…you…and your Yami…well…**

**Marik: WHAT?**

**Kitty: You're Gaston.**

**Marik: …_WHAT_?**

**Kitty: (hurriedly) It's not really _you_! It's your _Yami's_ fault!**

**Marik: I'M CHASING AFTER _RYOU_? KITTY, I'M MARRIED TO _KARA_!**

**Kitty: Well, _I'm_ married to _Yugi_…get over it!**

**Marik: (grumbles under his breath) **

**Creepy Voice: Don't you think you should get on with the fic?**

**Yugi: True, true…good idea, Yami.**

**Atem: Huh? I didn't say anything.**

**Yugi: (confused) But…if _you_ didn't say anything…then _who_…?**

**(Evil, creepy laugh rings out above them)**

**Ryou: (latches onto Bakura, closing his eyes in terror) _AHHHHHHH_! THIS PLACE REALLY _IS_ HAUNTED!**

**(Everyone else panicking)**

**Kitty: (very scared) ONTO THE FIC!**


	2. Prologue

**_Prologue_**

Once upon a time, in a land far away from here, a young prince called Bakura of Kaitou lived in a white marble castle. Although the King and Queen were diplomatic and kind, their son was cruel, selfish and spoiled. When his parents died in a strange accident and Bakura took the throne, he mercilessly taxed his people and hired Duel Monster champions to steal valuables from nobles and peasants alike for his own pleasure. People called him the King of Thieves, and no one had a chance of standing up against him.

Then, one winter's night, there was a solemn knock on the tall wooden door of Bakura's castle. Bakura answered the door; he had been expecting to see one of his employees with riches and was instead greeted by an old crone shivering from the cold and offering him a pure white rose in return for shelter.

Bakura, very angry of not receiving gold or riches but nonetheless selfish enough to want the lovely flower, snatched the white rose out of the crone's hand and, laughing scornfully, slammed the door in her face.

Suddenly the door burst open amongst an eruption of blue and white light, and where the crone had stood before now stood a beautiful, shining woman with long white hair and blue eyes. Behind her was a blue and white dragon.

It was the enchantress of the Blue Eyes White Dragon: the legendary and justice-desiring Kisara.

"You have been deceived by your own cold heart," she told him, her eyes blazing at the prince in front of her. "I place a curse upon this house and all who live within it."

The white rose in Bakura's hand began to glow, and the startled King dropped it as he found his usually pale, handsome hand darkening like baking bread. He cried out in fright.

"**_Hair as old as I,"_** Kisara chanted, her eyes glowing with violent blue magic,  
"_**Eyes as red as the blood you've shed,  
Skin darkened by the sun,  
Face disfigured by my vengeful slash!"**_

The Blue Eyes White Dragon raised a claw and slashed at Bakura's face, making the King shout out in pain and grip his bleeding face as he crumpled to the floor. Although he couldn't see it himself, his hair was slowly lightening and his skin was continuing to darken until his hair and skin almost clashed.

"All of these things considered ugly by your people," Kisara murmured, "shall bar you to this castle as long as my curse lasts. You shall never be able to influence others to do _your_ dirty work…and you won't be able to use your servants to message things for you, for they shall be transformed into items that no one would trust. They will be your only companions, Bakura of Kaitou."

"You…_you_…" Bakura snarled in fury, attempting to get up and rip her to pieces as he had done many a man.

"Fortunately for _you_," Kisara interrupted coldly, "I am a _justice-believing_ enchantress, so I know while you are learning your lesson, you must have two things: hope and knowledge."

She thrust a Duel Monsters card at the floor by his feet.

"Fairy's Hand Mirror," she named the card as Bakura picked it up and looked at it suspiciously. "This will allow you to see anything in the outside world or within the castle… it's your only remaining window to the outside world, fulfilling your need for _knowledge_. As for _hope_…that rose you were so _desperate_ to get your hands on is an _enchanted_ rose. It will bloom until your twenty-third year. If you are able to love another and earn their love in return before the last petal falls off that flower…then the spell upon you will be broken, and your true heart will shine through."

"And if I _don't_?" Bakura demanded angrily, his now-red eyes narrowing dangerously.

Kisara didn't recognize the danger in the young king's eyes, however. "You will remain a beast for all eternity."

Bakura lost it. Without considering her magic or her curse upon him, he lunged at Kisara, ready to kill her with his bare hands. Before he could get a hold of her, however, the enchantress and her dragon disappeared.

"_Love another and be loved before the last petal falls_…" her voice echoed one final time throughout the hall.

In the days that followed, Bakura was determined to prove the enchantress that he could still rule while within his castle. Unfortunately for him, the enchantress was right; his beastly appearance scared every duelist that could help him steal, as well as all of the citizens who lived under him, away, and only his enchanted servants remained at his side. The lands around the castle became heavily forested and almost haunted-looking with the abandonment of the towns, creating a Dark Forest around the castle, barring it away from all could possibly break the spell on Bakura.

The years passed, and Bakura soon caved in to despair and lost all hope…who could possibly find it in their hearts to love a beast?


	3. Chapter 1: The White Haired Dreamer

_**Chapter One: The White-Haired Dreamer**_

Not far from the Dark Forest surrounding the cursed palace of Bakura of Kaitou was a small, provincial town known as White Willows, and walking into the town square early one morning was a young man with long, layered white hair, gentle brown eyes and a delicate pale figure named Ryou reporting for work at the small bookstore on the corner.

Ryou pushed the door of the bookstore open as slowly as he could as not to ring the bell at the top and disturb the bookkeeper's granddaughter still likely sleeping upstairs. He hung his long coat and scarf on the coat tree by the door, and then snuck over to the bookshelf along the right wall and skimmed the titles on the sides. At last he found what he was looking for and pulled a thick crimson-covered novel with the title _"Tales of Kings" _off the shelf, before opening it and starting to read.

The story Ryou had been reading from this book was the first story he had ever read by himself and his very favorite; in fact, it is the very same story you just finished reading in our prologue. Ryou did not know why the story called to him so…but he couldn't help but be hopeful that there was more to people than what first met the eye.

Ryou's brown eyes went over the pictures next to the story, engrossed in the beautiful and dedicated detail.

'_I sure hope there's more to the people in this provincial town than what I see of them everyday…if there were, I'd finally be able to be myself and find someone who'd understand me. After all, it's not like Amane and I are getting out of here very quickly.'_

Amane was Ryou's twin sister and one of his only real friends in the world. She loved to paint, and she likely could've been known across the world as the next Picasso were she not a girl and accused time and again of paying a man to paint her something for the competitions she attended. Yet Amane remained hopeful that one day, she would finally be recognized and she could win her brother and her enough money to leave their provincial town and move to a city where they could pursue their dreams.

Ryou closed his eyes. _'If I had a library, it'd be three times bigger than this one…and there would be books in every language known to man…and anyone who wanted to write could come and enter their works into the library and get critiqued by readers and professional writers alike…it would be a reader's and writer's paradise!'_

"Mind if I pluck you out of your daydream, Ryou?"

Ryou's brown eyes shot open and he looked over at Professor Hawkins walking down the staircase from his home into the library, smiling fondly at him.

The professor had been a very skilled archeologist, but he had since retired and opened up a bookstore in the provincial White Willows. However, if there was one thing he, his granddaughter Rebecca and Ryou could agree on, it was how boring the town could be. Ryou knew that Professor Hawkins would want nothing more than to return to the city, but because his bookstore wasn't very successful and he had to pay most of his earnings on rent and such, Professor Hawkins did not have enough money to move again.

"It's alright, Professor Hawkins," Ryou answered politely. "I wasn't thinking about anything out of the _ordinary_."

Professor Hawkins smiled. "Once again dreaming of the unknown adventures beyond that horizon? I know the feeling…"

The retired archeologist sighed and regained a more serious composure. "But now, we must focus on what is at _hand_…did you finish organizing the books last night? You stayed up quite late."

"Yes," Ryou replied, gesturing to the bookshelf he had been looking at. "First they're organized by _genre_, either Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fantasy, Science-Fiction or Historical Fiction…then those are sub-divided into level of reading, Children's, Young Adults' and Mature…and last is alphabetically by author."

Professor Hawkins looked at the organized shelves with an unreadable look on his face, and Ryou immediately rushed to explain himself. "I know you said just to do it by genre, but I was worried people wouldn't be able to find what they were looking for if it was a _specific_ book and-"

He stopped as his employer shook his head slowly. "I'm not _angry_…I'm just wondering why in God's name you are still _stuck_ here. You're so _intelligent_…it's a shame you can't exercise your mind at a credentialed college."

Ryou blinked, and then nodded in grateful assent.

The professor gave a small smile in return, before walking to the coat tree and taking his hat and coat off it.

"I'm going out to get some more books from a new shipment on the edge of town, Ryou," he stated. "I'll probably be back in a couple of hours…you can manage the store that long, can't you?"

"Of course, sir," Ryou responded, privately thinking he wouldn't have to worry about much since so few ever entered the bookstore as it was.

"I knew I could count on you," said Professor Hawkins as he pulled on the other sleeve of his coat, before he opened the door, stepped calmly outside and quietly closed the door behind him.

The rest of that morning Ryou reread some of his favorite books. Rebecca, Professor Hawkins's granddaughter, came downstairs around 7 to get ready for school at 8, and the two only exchanged a wave of farewell as she hurried out the door. When the large grandfather clock behind the purchasing desk chimed 9:00, Ryou turned the **"Closed"** sign on the bookstore door over so that it read **"Open,"** but no one paid any mind to the now-open bookstore, so the albino just continued reading.

As Ryou was finishing the tale of Bakura of Kaitou in _"Tales of Kings"_ for the third time, however, he did not realize it when the bell on the door rang and the day's first and only customer entered the shop.

"Hello, Ryou-pretty."

Ryou jumped like a startled rabbit; he had been so engrossed he hadn't realized the customer had walked right next to him and was looking over his shoulder at his reading.

"_Marik_! What are you doing here?"

The platinum-blond-haired, violet-eyed and tanned young man known as Marik Ishtar had been Ryou's best friend when they were little. When they were eleven, Marik had gone away to a boarding school and returned a year ago completely different than what he had been. Obviously the strict school had changed him drastically; it was even rumored that he had killed one of his professors, even though there was no actual proof saying he did. Although Marik had grown slightly more handsome, as children becoming teenagers often do, his hair had become very spiky, his eyes now held a cruel glint and, most of all, it seemed as though his heart had grown cold…yet he still found it necessary to call his childhood friend _"Ryou-pretty."_

Marik chuckled darkly. "I'm not allowed to come and say hello to Ryou-pretty?"

Ryou sweatdropped. Marik's words by themselves sounded innocent enough, but the tone in which he said them made him feel nervous.

"You're plenty welcome…but I didn't think you _liked_ reading."

"I don't," Marik assented, smirking slightly. "But I like Ryou-pretty."

He patted Ryou on the head as if he were a pet; Ryou tried not to shiver.

"So…what's going on?" Ryou inquired to change the subject. "H-how's Odeon?"

Odeon was Marik's older adopted brother, but because of Marik's father, Odeon ended being treated more like a servant after Marik's mother died as he wasn't a pure-blood Ishtar. When Marik and Ryou were young, Odeon would always help Marik sneak out of his work-focused home and help him get together with Ryou; unfortunately, ever since Marik returned from his boarding school, it seemed like the young Ishtar treated Odeon similarly to how his father did.

"He's outside waiting for me," Marik answered pitilessly. "Always acting like a silly dog, following me everywhere…I don't know if he realizes how much of a _burden_ he is to me."

Ryou looked out the window to see an uncloaked, scarf-less Odeon with a very steadfast expression as he tried his best not to shiver from the cold. The albino felt a river of pity flood him.

"He looks _cold_, Marik," Ryou attempted to reproach. "Maybe he'd like to come inside…I could light a fire to get him warm-"

"Who cares about Odeon?" Marik retorted heartlessly, before he smiled coldly and he stroked Ryou's hair as his voice became a little cooler, "_I'm_ cold too, Ryou-pretty…maybe you could warm _me_ up."

Ryou flushed and pulled away from Marik, putting some of the books he'd been reading back on the shelves.

"Sorry, Marik, I've got work to do."

Marik's eyes darkened slightly, but he nonetheless forced his cold smile back onto his face.

"Ryou-pretty doesn't have to work so hard…if he was married to, ah…a more _privileged_ person…he wouldn't have to work so hard…"

"_Marriage_?" recurred Ryou, shaking his head as he picked up _"Tales of Kings."_ "I don't think so…I _like_ my work…and I wouldn't want to marry just _anyone_."

"It wouldn't _have_ to be just _anyone_," Marik pointed out seductively, taking the book out of Ryou's pale hands so that the albino was looking at him again. "It could be someone _handsome,_ and _protective,_ and _wealthy_…"

Ryou tried to take the book back from Marik, but the tanned young man kept it out of his reach.

"Marik, give me the book," he stated patiently.

Marik ignored him. "It could be someone who knows you _very_ well…"

"Marik…give me the book," Ryou repeated.

"It could be someone who has courted you for _months_ and been _patient_ enough to accept your _naivety_," Marik plowed on, his voice sounding a bit irritated.

"Marik…_give me the book_," Ryou said for the third time, sounding a little less patient but not sounding angry.

"Ryou? I'm back!"

The bell on the door rang as Professor Hawkins pushed the door open, carrying a large pile of books.

Marik looked very annoyed at having been interrupted by the bookkeeper, but still turned to Ryou with that cold smile as he handed the red book to him at last.

"You want it? Very well then…"

He strode over to Professor Hawkins and slapped a silver piece on top of the pile of books he was holding.

"That should cover its price," the platinum-blond-haired man said coolly, shooting a quick smirk back at Ryou. "Consider it a gift, Ryou-pretty."

And with that, he swept from the store.

Ryou sighed, looking down at the book in his hands. _'Well, I guess if I did have extra money, I would've bought this anyway after all the times I've read it…but Marik…aiyah, he has changed so much…he thought I was being naïve…maybe he should've considered that I'm doing it on purpose?'_

He scowled. _'And that silly name…"Ryou-pretty!"__ Really…'_

"I don't blame you for that scowl," Professor Hawkins stated crisply as he put the pile of books down on the desk and eyed the door Marik had left through with civilized distaste. "Mr. Ishtar _is_ quite an unsavory person, isn't he?"

Ryou shook his head. "We were such good _friends_ when we were little, so there _is_ goodness in him…but yes, he has changed…"

Professor Hawkins sighed. "I don't see how there could be _any_ goodness in him, but you knew him better than I, so perhaps I'm not the best judge."

'_Maybe you are,'_ Ryou thought to himself. _'It's so hard for me to see a friend as a bad person that I can't get Marik to back off.'_

Professor Hawkins eyed the clock and his eyes widened slightly. "Oh my…this day _has_ gotten away from us, hasn't it? Rebecca should be coming home from school any…"

As if bidden by her grandfather's words, the small blond-haired, green-haired girl known as Rebecca entered, her brown school bag slung over her shoulder.

"Hey, Grandpa," she greeted. "Hello, Ryou."

"Hi, Rebecca," Ryou answered kindly. "How was everything?"

"Boring," Rebecca snorted. "I _still_ can't believe I'm stuck in this class of _morons_…the multiplication tables are _not_ that hard!"

Rebecca, who was old enough to be in elementary school, nonetheless was extremely intelligent and likely could've already started high school were it not for the fact that White Willows had age restrictions for each class, making it impossible for Rebecca to skip grades.

Professor Hawkins wrapped a sympathetic arm around Rebecca. "Now, Rebecca…it's just not as _easy_ for some people as it is for you. But don't worry…as soon as we have enough money, we'll move back into the city and get you a _proper_ education."

"If I don't get _stupefied_ by these incompetent teachers and too-easy lessons first," Rebecca scorned.

She sighed before looking over at Ryou and smiling. "So…any customers?"

"Marik," Ryou replied neutrally.

Rebecca crossed her arms. "That jerk…he doesn't even _like_ books! All _he_ likes is hurting people…and don't even _try_ to deny it, Ryou, that guy is _nuts_," she added when the albino had opened his mouth to argue.

"At any rate," said Professor Hawkins as he looked up at the clock, "Rebecca, start your shift…Ryou, you may go home…say hello to your sister for me."

Ryou nodded as he pulled on his coat and wrapped his scarf around his neck. "Thanks…I will."

And so he left the shop and headed back out into town.

The winter cold bit the albino like a billion tiny bee-stings as he journeyed through the town square, past hat shops, flower shops and bars with larger groups of customers than any that had ever entered the bookstore. Ryou could understand why Odeon had been shivering; even with his coat and scarf, he still felt freezing. He took a side street away from the bustle of town and at last his eyes could make out his sister's and his home on the top of the large hill separating the town from the field that became the Dark Forest.

Ryou raised the almost-frozen hand not holding _"Tales of Kings" _to turn the doorknob on the forest green door to the right and push it open, before rushing inside and slamming the door behind him to get out of the biting cold.

The house was very small, but it still was quite cozy; everything was all on one level, and there was a large fire in the living room fireplace Ryou had just walked next to when he entered the house. The walls were painted muted greens and blues, except for the kitchen, which Amane had painted a bright, cheerful yellow.

Ryou shivered tremendously, taking off his coat and scarf and laying them by the fire to get warm for his next trip out.

"Amane?" he called. "I'm home!"

There was a scrambling from Amane's bedroom in the back of one putting down an art easel, and Amane hurried into the living room to greet her brother with a large hug.

Amane, like Ryou, had white hair and a pale figure, but her eyes were green, her hair was thinner than his, and she didn't look half as weak and helpless as her brother did. Smudges of paint could be found on her hands, clothes and face, but she didn't seem to mind one bit.

"How was work today?" Amane inquired.

Ryou shrugged. "Same old, same old…but Marik came to visit."

Amane raised an eyebrow. "I thought he didn't like reading."

"No," Ryou assented in annoyance, "but he likes _'Ryou-pretty'_ apparently…"

"I see," answered Amane, looking thoughtful. "Brother…tell me again what is so wrong with Marik that you won't give him a chance?"

Ryou sighed. "He _was_ my friend, Amane…but…I just don't want to get _married_ right now…I want to fall in _love_, not just...give myself up for _money_. I want to make my _own_ happiness before I start searching for someone to share my happiness _with_. Besides…Marik just isn't my _type_…I want to be _shown_ love, and not just through material possessions."

Amane smiled. "It's a very romantic thought, Ryou…but Marik _could_ be romantic, deep down…you've said so yourself there is goodness in everyone."

"_Now_ who's being romantic?" asked Ryou. "I _do_ think there's goodness in everyone…but that goodness might not _appeal_ to everyone, right? Marik is generous…but I don't really want a lot of generosity. I want…_understanding_."

Thinking he was putting too much thought into this, the albino brushed his words aside. "But…enough about what I want. How is your painting coming?"

Amane smiled, and without a word, she grabbed Ryou's hand and pulled him into her room where her easel was still set up.

Her painting was nothing short of gorgeous.

Blues and purples swirled and melded into each other to create an angel with scarred, bloody wings and holding two babies close to her chest protectively as she fell from pure white clouds down into red-orange and black flames that seemed to smirk at her as they consumed her tranquil colors.

Ryou's face broke out into a sad smile for the first time that day.

"It's really very beautiful, Amane," he murmured. "Mom would be honored the be the center of your piece."

Amane smiled slightly, small traces of tears in her eyes. "Thank you, Brother."

Ryou put an arm around her to give her a half-hug of comfort as the two siblings stared at the angel falling into the villainous trap of Hell on Earth, trying to protect her children from its fiery embrace.


	4. Chapter 2: Out of the Rain, Into Trouble

**_Chapter Two: Out of the Rain, Into Trouble_**

Amane left the following morning for the arts fair south of town sitting on her All-Seeing White Tiger Duel Monster, Ivory, and holding her completed painting in her lap while struggling to read the map that Ryou had brought back from an atlas at the bookstore for her.

She had headed into the Dark Forest hours earlier, and now unfortunately seemed to be very, very lost indeed. Nothing on the map looked like it was supposed to, and the forks in the roads were old and decrepit, so she couldn't make out the painted directions on them.

"Are you _sure_ you'll be alright, Amane?" Ryou had asked her before she left, sounding concerned. "Maybe I should pack you some food and a cloak in case you get lost and don't make it before dark-"

But Amane had brushed him off, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry, Brother, I've done this _millions_ of times before…I'll be fine."

Amane felt very stupid saying those things now that she was cold, hungry and lost in the creepy Dark Forest. Even Ivory seemed skittish in this place.

The trees' branches interlocked above and around the girl and her Duel Monster, creating horrible faces and reaching claws in the darkening woods. Worse of all, there was foreboding rumbles of thunder that announced the beginning of a heavy, fog-inducing rain.

'_Oh,'_ Amane thought to herself, looking up worriedly at the sky and around at the misty woods ahead of her, _'if only there was someone to ask for directions…why did the arts fair have to be on the other side of the Dark Forest, of all places?'_

Then, out of the silence, Amane froze at the sound of a chorus of howls.

Ivory growled, pawing the ground nervously and looking around for the source of the howling. All that was around them, however, were what looked like a bunch of flower bushes moving slowly toward them…

'_Moving?'_ Amane realized in shock.

And to her horror, she saw the things connected to the flowers weren't bushes at all, but violet-furred, hungry-eyed wolves.

She'd journeyed right into a pack of Flower Wolves.

Ivory immediately went off into a run and Amane held on as well as she could while still trying to hold onto her painting; the Flower Wolves pursued them, growling and biting at Ivory's heels. They seemed to be everywhere, obstructing every path Ivory attempted to take as an escape.

All of a sudden, Amane felt herself being thrust backward as Ivory made a sharp turn, throwing her off of her back and making her lose grip of her painting as she fell backward into the ground. The Flower Wolf pack chased after Ivory, and no matter how loud Amane cried, Ivory did not return to get her.

Amane looked down at her painting, and her green eyes filled with tears at the sight of its beautiful, passionate colors stained and ruined by the mud of the puddle it had fallen into.

'_After all my work…'_ she thought miserably, _'after all that time…after this horrible day…I don't have anything to show for it! Now how am I going to win at the arts fair? For that matter…how am I going to get to the arts fair at all? For that matter…how am I ever going to get out of this awful forest and get home again?'_

At this moment, however, Amane deemed it best to first get out of the bullet-like rain, and by what seemed at the time as a stroke of luck, she realized that behind her was a palace covered in moss but filled with a once-beautiful aura.

'_Maybe someone there can help me!'_ she thought to herself.

The white-haired female hurried up toward the large door of the palace and knocked on the door loudly. To her surprise, her knocking was enough to make the door fall open, for it had not been closed properly.

Amane gently pushed the door open and looked around at the empty, yet majestic palace.

Despite the cobwebs and terrorizing stone gargoyles that peered down at her from the top of staircase banisters and around the ceiling, the inside of the castle was very beautiful in a mysterious way. The secretiveness of the place made Amane's artistic mind run wild; any kind of terror could be hiding in the dark shadows beyond the golden light of the candles lining each wall.

"H-hello?" she called out hesitantly, before she gulped and raised her voice. "Is anyone there? I-I don't mean to _intrude_, but…I'm _lost_…can someone help me?"

Unbeknownst to Amane, a Golden Retriever resting his head on the floor near the stairs lifted his head up, his ears perking up at the sound of the young woman's voice.

'_A stranger?'_ the dog thought to himself inquisitively. _'After all these years…a real-life human?'_

He got up and started toward the stairs as to investigate; he was stopped, however, when a suit of armor that had been positioned at the edge of the stairs placed his sword in his path.

"Don't even _think_ about it, Joey," the suit of armor scolded quietly.

Joey gave the suit of armor the dog's equivalent of a glare.

"Bug off, Tristan," the Retriever snapped in irritation.

"What, you think Bakura's going to capture this girl and _make_ her love him?" Tristan inquired waspishly. "You just think by _telling_ her the whole thing, she'll throw her entire _life_ away and fall in _love_ with him? Hate to tell you this, but we're not stuck in a cliched fairy tale, Joey."

"Forget about the spell for two _seconds_, will you, metal-head?" Joey retorted, his blond tail twitching impatiently. "The girl's _lost_…it would be _heartless_ not to try and _help_ her!"

"You think she would _trust_ you?" Tristan inquired. "You think she would trust _any_ of us?"

"Probably not," Joey answered unconcernedly, moving past Tristan's sword and walking down the stairs, "but it can't help to _try_. Just because the_ King_ is ruthless until he falls in love and breaks the spell doesn't mean _we_ have to be."

Tristan tried to pull Joey back, but the Retriever had already run down the stairs and hurried over to the stranger.

Amane blinked in surprise, before smiling at the yellow-furred dog.

"Hello there," she greeted kindly, scratching Joey behind the ears. "Where did you come from?"

Joey couldn't help it, but the attention to his ears made his back foot happily whap against the ground like a rabbit.

'_Man…being a dog so long and not having anyone who could help me deal with these fleas? How the hell did I survive so long?'_

Despite his enjoyment of human fingers scratching his itchy, flea-bitten spots, Joey quickly got back to business and moved away from Amane's touch.

"Don't be afraid," Joey said gently.

Amane jumped back, her eyes wide with shock.

"Y-_you_…but…I…you're a…!"

Joey sighed. "I should've known saying _'don't be afraid'_ wasn't going to stop you from being afraid…b-but don't run away!" he added hurriedly when Amane turned from him, looking ready to head back out the door. "We'd be _glad_ to help you, _really_! Don't run away…"

Amane's eyes widened slightly at the very sad look in the dog's brown eyes.

"_Everyone_ who comes here runs away," Joey tried to explain, his eyes downcast. "Once they see the others move…or hear me speak…"

"The _others_?" asked Amane.

"Don't tell her anything!" Tristan hissed from the top of the stairs. "It's none of her business!"

Amane stared at the moving and talking suit of armor. "How…_how_…?"

"Magic," Joey answered simply with a dog's version of a shrug. "Anyway…you said you were lost?"

"Y-yes," Amane stammered. "I-I was trying to get to the arts fair, but I got lost and a pack of Flower Wolves made my Duel Monster run away…and my painting got ruined in the rain…" she looked heartbroken just remembering her masterpiece lying ruined in the mud. "I-I just need directions to get back to White Willows. Can you help me?"

"Hmm," Joey thought for a moment, before sighing in slight disappointment and muttering, "Well…there's only _one_ person who knows enough to do with maps and such…and that's Kaiba."

"_Kaiba_?" repeated Amane.

"Our chief researcher," Joey explicated, turning and heading back for the stairs, "and first-class _prick_. He should be in the library…come on, I'll show ya…"

But as Amane was about to follow him, the lighted candles along the halls suddenly went out, throwing the room into darkness. Joey yelped and Tristan shouted out in shock and fear.

Then, unbidden, Amane found herself being thrown painfully backwards into a cold, hard wall by a strong hand.

"Your Highness, _please_ no!" Joey's voice shouted desperately.

Amane heard a shove, then a whimper of pain; Joey had been thrust backward against the opposite wall.

"_Joey_!" Tristan's voice cried out, his metal legs clunking slightly as he rushed to the dog's aid.

Amane looked up to the person who was holding her against the wall, to find two red eyes glaring in violent rage down at her.

She shrunk back in terror, her green eyes very wide.

"Who are you?" a very dark voice, presumably the owner of those horrible red eyes, growled dangerously. "What are you doing in my castle?"

"Y-_your_ castle?" Amane repeated fearfully.

"Yes, _my_ castle!" the voice retorted wrathfully. "_What_, are you saying that I _can't_ be the ruler of this castle?"

"N-_no_!" Amane stuttered desperately. "I-I just-"

"You think I'm so much of a _beast_ that I'm not allowed my _birthright_?" the angry voice demanded, his red eyes filled with insane fury.

"N-_no_!" Amane protested, shaking tremendously. "I-I meant no _harm_! I didn't know who _lived_ here! I-I got lost in the woods and-"

"_You're not welcome here_!" the voice roared angrily. "I vowed by my parents' graves that _no_ woman would _ever_ set foot inside these walls after what _she_ did to me, and I will _not_ let that vow be broken!"

Amane felt a claw-like hand grab her neck and pull her up off the ground; the sharp grip tightened, and the girl squirmed desperately, choking as she struggled to breathe. Her thoughts and memories clouded together in her mind and flashed in a series like a fast-moving slideshow, as if she would never again see these images…bruises…Father…art…Mother…inspiration…Ryou…

"_Your Highness_!" Joey implored desperately. "Your Highness, have _mercy_! Murder and pain is _exactly_ what made you like this in the _first_ place! Don't repeat the _past_, Your Highness!"

Abruptly Amane felt oxygen return to her as the claw loosened its grasp, and she gasped in relief.

"You're _lucky_ my pathetic servant cares enough about your meaningless life, little girl," the voice hissed. "For _his_ sake…I won't kill you."

The hand released her and Amane felt herself hit the floor; even though she was very afraid and was still recovering from the lack of air, she involuntarily relaxed at the voice's words.

Her relief faded almost instantly, however, when she noticed the evil glint in the blood-red eyes.

"You came in here to escape the _rain_," the voice whispered in a very icy, sinister tone that made Amane's heart prickle with fear. "It would be _cruel_ to force you back into the rain, wouldn't it? So…I'll be _kind_ enough to let you _rot in the dungeon instead_!"

Amane felt the claw-like hand grab her by the collar, before she found herself being carried away roughly through the dark.

"_Your Highness_!" yelled Joey.

Amane attempted to pull out of the hand's grasp, screaming for Joey, Tristan or someone to help her, but no one came to her aid.

'_Ryou!'_ she thought desperately, pleading that some of the magic that transformed Joey and Tristan might take pity on her and let her contact her brother. _'Ryou…brother…help me!'_

"_RYOU_!" she screamed frantically, all sense and dignity forgotten. "_HELP ME_!"

Little did Amane know her cries were loud enough for Ivory to hear outside.

Her ears pricking up, the White Tiger looked toward the castle and knew in an instant that her mistress was in trouble. Without a second thought, the Ivory ran through the forest away from the castle, determined to find the person Amane was calling for.


	5. Chapter 3: Two Proposals, One Approved

_**Chapter Three: Two Propositions, One Approved**_

Ryou left the bookstore at the end of his shift and headed back home, thinking of Amane to try and distract himself from the chilly weather.

'_I'm sure she's having fun at the Arts Fair,'_ the albino thought to himself. _'It's south of here, so it's probably not as cold and snowy…maybe this time, she'll actually be recognized for her talent.'_

Ryou pulled the door open, rushed inside the house and closed the door once more, taking off his coat and scarf before heading over to the fireplace and starting a fire. As the wood began to burn and the house started to warm up, the young man sat down near the fire, picked up _"Tales of Kings"_ and started to read.

Unbeknownst to Ryou, a platinum-blond-haired friend of his had walked up to the door of his home, smirking slightly. Behind him was a tall man with a tattoo on one side of his face, shivering because of his lack of warm clothes.

Ryou only looked up from his book when he heard a knock at the door. Laying a glove on the page he was at to save his place, he got up from the floor and headed over to open the door. When he did, he blinked at the sight of…

"Marik?"

Marik gave a smile as cold as it was outside. "Ryou-pretty…could I come in?"

"Certainly," Ryou answered politely, before looking at Odeon and smiling at him. "Both of you can."

But as Marik entered, he slammed the door behind him, leaving Odeon outside like he had at the bookstore the previous day.

"I'd…prefer to keep this _private_," he murmured icily.

The albino felt a flash of anger that Marik could be so cruel to Odeon after how loyal he'd been to him, but he was careful not to show it on his face.

Marik's eyes wandered around the house disdainfully. "Is this _really_ where you _live_, Ryou-pretty?"

"Why, yes," Ryou stated calmly, inwardly thinking that he thought the house was very nice and didn't deserve such disapproval.

'_Sure, it's a little small…but I don't mind small. It's probably a lot warmer and cozier than Marik's huge mansion…'_

Marik, though, didn't seem to agree with Ryou's thoughts. "It's so…_tiny_. You deserve _better_, Ryou-pretty. Surely you've dreamed of better than _this_?"

'_I dream about what I can learn and see, not what house I live in,'_ Ryou thought to himself, wishing he could roll his eyes without Marik seeing.

"I don't mind my house," he decided to say instead. "After all, it's just Amane and me, Marik, we don't need much room."

Marik shook his head. "I'm not questioning whether or not you can _tolerate_ it, Ryou-pretty…I'm merely stating that you deserve _better_."

"And what exactly do I _deserve_, Marik?" Ryou inquired expressionlessly.

"A lot of things," responded Marik. "A large mansion filled to the top with precious treasures and comprised of large, elegant rooms...servants to attend to your every whim…a husband to spoil you mercilessly…"

Ryou tried not to grimace, but he personally thought wanting a big house, groveling servants and a husband who did nothing but give you presents was quite selfish and very unlike what he wanted.

"And do you know who will be _more_ than happy to make that dream come true for you?" asked Marik coolly.

"I can't imagine," whispered Ryou, trying not to sound sarcastic.

"_Me_, Ryou-pretty," Marik replied, moving their faces closer together.

"Marik, I'm…_speechless_," Ryou said awkwardly as he moved back from him, disliking the lack of space between them. "I-I really don't know what to _say_…"

Marik's smirk broadened, lessening the space between them even more and making their noses touch. Ryou felt colder just looking into his heartless eyes.

"Say you'll marry me," the tanned man said as a manipulative hiss.

"I-I'm very sorry, Marik," Ryou stammered, "but…I just don't _deserve_ you!"

Marik grabbed Ryou by the arm, his eyes glinting dangerously even though his mouth was still turned upward in smirk. "_Nonsense_, Ryou-pretty…I _want_ you…and what I _want,_ I _get_, no matter what."

Ryou was trapped between a wall and Marik, and his fearful heart was almost slamming into his ribs. He really didn't like Marik's possessive grip on his arm. He was about to respond, but, to his tremendous relief, he heard a scratching noise at the door and took it quickly as an excuse to pull away from Marik.

He opened the door to find Ivory covered in snow and meowing loudly as if trying to tell Ryou something.

"_Ivory_?" Ryou realized. "What are you _doing_ here? You should be with Amane at the Arts Fair…"

His eyes widened in horror.

"_Amane_! Where is she? _Ivory, where is she_?"

Ivory meowed even more desperately. Without a second thought, Ryou seized his coat and ran outside to climb on the White Tiger's back.

"_Ryou-pretty_!" said Marik, rushing over to him. "Where are you going?"

"To find Amane," Ryou answered determinedly.

"I'll come with you," Marik offered immediately.

"No," Ryou stated, more firmly than he had been before. "I'm sorry our conversation was cut short, Marik, but right now, my sister is more important."

The albino wasn't really sorry at all, but he didn't want to think about anything besides finding Amane, so he grabbed hold of Ivory's neck and the two ran into the Dark Forest, leaving Marik to stare after them with his cold lavender eyes narrowed in impatience and aggravation.

* * *

Ivory approached the place where she had last heard her mistress's voice, and Ryou shivered as he looked up at the slightly eerie marble palace.

"This _place_," he thought out loud. "I've _seen_ this place…where have I seen it?"

Ivory kept looking around fearfully, as if worried the Flower Wolves would return at any moment.

"It's okay, Ivory," Ryou assured, stroking her neck. "Stay here…I'll check it out."

The albino climbed off the Duel Monster's back and started hesitantly toward the castle. He stopped, however, when he stepped onto something that made a squishing sound; when he looked down, his eyes widened at the sight of a soaked piece of colorful paper that still barely contained the image of an angel.

"_Amane_," he murmured.

He looked at the water-ruined painting, then at the palace, before making up his mind and running up to the castle door. Seeing it wasn't fastened properly, he uncertainly pushed the door open to look inside.

"Hello?" he called, walking in slowly. "Is anyone there? Amane?"

* * *

"Awesome job, mutt," scorned a blue book with a brown-haired, blue-eyed man on the front cover scowling in the Golden Retriever's direction. "First person to enter the castle since the curse _had_ to be a girl, and you just _had_ to be nice to her…now Bakura's being even _more_ temperamental with us than usual."

"Shut it, Kaiba," retorted Joey. "I was only trying to _help_ her…she needed _help_, and she still _does_…if I had hands instead of paws, I'd bust the girl out myself."

A white King chess-piece with spiky tricolor hair, wide violet eyes and the name _"Yugi"_ incrusted in gold on his white stand nodded.

"Bakura is being ridiculous," he stated, his innocent voice upset. "That poor girl, locked up in that horrible dungeon without a blanket or a coat…"

A black King chess-piece with even wilder tricolor hair, sharp-angled crimson eyes and the name _"Atem"_ incrusted in silver on his black stand wrapped a porcelain arm around Yugi and gently kissed the top of his forehead.

"We can only hope that _'Ryou' _person she kept screaming for will come and her out of here," he assented in a deep, rich voice that could rival any king's.

"Guess so," stated a feather duster with purple eyes and gently curled gold hair with a slight sigh. "There's no other way that girl would ever escape from here, since Bakura sure as hell isn't going to be _nice_ to her."

She tried to give Joey a hug, but her feathers tickled his nose and the dog went into a sneezing fit.

"Oh…sorry, Joseph," the feather duster apologized, looking very guilty.

When he finally stopped sneezing, Joey tried to give her a dog's version of a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, Mai…it's not your fault."

Mai sighed again sadly. "_Oh_, of all things for me to turn into, it _had_ to be a feather duster! If the spell isn't taken off soon…I'll never be able to touch that handsome face of yours again."

"Amane? Are you there? _Amane_!"

All of the enchanted servants froze at the sound of a voice calling out a name. Joey stood up abruptly from his seat on the floor, his ears up.

'_A boy?'_ he realized.

The yellow-furred dog abruptly ran over down the stairs and looked around the corner to see a young man with long white hair, chocolate brown eyes and a delicate pale figure looking around as if searching for someone.

"It's a boy," said Tristan, who had been standing by the edge of the stairs.

"Of _course_ it is," scorned Kaiba as he and the others came up behind Joey to look around the corner at the stranger. "Did you think it was a _cat_?"

Joey didn't pay attention to Tristan or Kaiba, however.

"Don't you see?" he barked elatedly. "_He's_ the one! Bakura says no _women_ are allowed in the castle…so Kisara must've sent this boy here instead!"

"Joey, I don't think Kisara-" Yugi started, but Joey had already run down the stairs and up to Ryou, barking eagerly.

The albino stared at the excited dog, very confused. "Where did _you_ come from?"

Joey grabbed Ryou's shirt in his teeth and pulled on it earnestly.

"Do you…want me to _follow_ you?" Ryou asked tentatively.

Joey responded with a positive bark.

'_Great,'_ Ryou thought sarcastically. _'I've met Lassie's twin brother…well, if I have to talk to a dog, at least no one's here to tease me!'_

"Do you know where my sister is?" he asked. "I think she got lost around here."

Joey blinked in surprise, before thinking of the girl Bakura had locked up in the palace dungeon and barking again.

"Well, lead on!" Ryou told him, gesturing around.

Joey headed up a circular staircase hidden in the far back corner of the entrance hall and the albino hurried after him, pleading that the dog did know where Amane was and that she was alright.

At last the dog and the human following him reached the door of the prison; squinting in the poor light made by the few small torches on the stone walls, Ryou looked through the bars on the window at the top of the door.

"Is anyone there?" he called.

"_Ryou_?" a familiar voice whispered weakly, as if disbelieving.

"_Amane_!" Ryou realized.

He tried pulling the door open, to find it locked. A bark sounded behind him, and he turned to see Joey holding a ring of keys in his mouth. The albino grabbed the ring of keys and unlocked the door with the largest key, before pulling the door open and rushing inside over to his sister.

Amane was chained to the wall in the far corner near the barred window, her face deathly white and her figure shivering in the wintry cold.

"How…how did you find me?" she asked, her voice very frail.

"Ivory came and got me," Ryou answered concernedly, struggling to find the key to unlock her shackles. "Amane, what _happened_?"

"Flower Wolves…cornered us," Amane responded, before coughing violently.

"_Shh_," Ryou hushed her gently, feeling her forehead. "Oh, you're as cold as _ice_…I've got to get you out of here."

"Ryou," Amane murmured, "it's…_dangerous_ here…we have to hurry before-"

"_No_!" shouted a voice Ryou didn't recognize as Joey's.

Amane screamed as Ryou felt himself being thrust away from her. All the candles went out, thrusting him into darkness. Ryou tried to find his sister again, but before he could, he found his back collide with a wall as someone grabbed him by the collar.

"What are you doing here?" a dark voice demanded fiercely.

Ryou forced fear from his face. "I've come for my sister…_please,_ free her, she's terribly sick!"

"So be it," scorned the voice. "That's her punishment for trespassing here!"

"She didn't know she was trespassing!" Ryou argued. "_I_ didn't even know who lived here! You can't kill her for a crime she didn't know she was committing!"

Amane's voice cried out from the darkness. "Ryou, don't argue with him! You'll only earn the same fate as me!"

"Maybe you should _listen_ to her," sneered the voice, "before you make me _mad_."

Ryou's eyes narrowed. "If you think I'm going to be quiet when my sister's _life_ is in danger, you're _wrong_!"

A short silence took over the room. Then the dark voice murmured, "There's _nothing_ you can do…she's my _prisoner_."

Ryou's forehead scrunched up in thought. _'There has to be something I can do…wait, there is!'_

"Fine, then," he stated. "Then let's make a trade…take me in her place."

"Ryou, _no_!" shouted Amane. "You don't know what you're doing! You don't know what he _looks_ like-"

"_SHUT UP_!" snarled the voice dangerously. It paused, and then whispered in an oddly incredulous tone, "You would…take _her_ place?"

"If I did…would you let her go?" Ryou asked.

"Yes," the voice responded, "but…you must promise to stay here forever."

Ryou's eyes widened. _'Forever…?'_

"Let me see you," he said abruptly.

The hand holding onto him flinched as if he'd said something he shouldn't have.

"I-I want to know you're being _sincere_!" Ryou added, worried he might have convinced the owner of the voice to kill him.

There was a pregnant pause, before there was a sound of someone lighting a match and the owner of the voice used the match to light one of the candles on the wall near where he was holding Ryou.

The albino's eyes widened, not of fear, but of recognition.

His sister's captor had short white hair that had obviously not been taken care of in years, skin tanned so that it clashed with his light hair, claw-like hands, a double-X scar on his left cheek and two sharp-lidded eyes as red as blood. The man watched Ryou's reaction impatiently as if waiting for some sort of response, but it was like this impatience was covering another emotion…was it _fear_?

'_Red eyes…' _Ryou thought, '_asking me to stay in his castle forever…a large white marble palace that looks like it's abandoned…'_

And finally Ryou realized where he'd seen this palace before…as an illustration in his favorite book, _"Tales of Kings."_

"You…have my word…Bakura of Kaitou," Ryou said faintly.

"_Done_," Bakura growled, dropping Ryou on the floor, grabbing the ring of keys and unlocking Amane's shackles.

When released, she rushed to him, looking fearful. "Brother, you can't do this-"

Bakura, as if disliking the display of affection between the siblings, grabbed the collar of Amane's shirt and pulled her away from her brother and out the door.

"_Ryou_!" Amane cried, attempting to pull free of the cursed King's claw-like grip.

"_Wait_!" Ryou implored, trying to stop him from taking her away. "Wait_, please_!"

He was stopped from following them further when Bakura slammed the prison door closed and locked it, his red eyes looking pitilessly through the barred window down at Ryou.

"You need to learn your _place_, pretty boy," Bakura hissed. "_I'm_ the King in this castle, and I don't follow orders from _anyone_."

And so Ryou could nothing but watch helplessly from behind the prison door as Bakura practically dragged his crying and pleading sister down the hallway. He could only pray that Bakura would honor his promise and not harm Amane anymore than he had, as he would probably never see anything outside this castle prison again.


	6. Chapter 4: No Mercy for the Wicked

_**Chapter Four: No Mercy for the Wicked**_

Bakura watched pitilessly out the window as his carriage-driver-turned-carriage, Noa, rolled the crying and screaming Amane away from the castle and into the Dark Forest toward White Willows. Snorting scornfully, the heartless King turned away from the window and headed back toward the prison where his new captive was still locked up.

Joey started walking at his side a few steps behind him and, after a minute of pondering whether to say something, opened his mouth.

"Y-Your Highness?"

"What?" snapped Bakura, shooting a violent look at the dog.

Joey tried not to look too intimidated while still looking respectful. "S-since the boy will be staying here for…for a _while_…maybe…he'll be a little more, um…_sympathetic_…if he had a more _comfortable_ room?"

Bakura stopped walking in front of the prison door and turned to the dog. His red eyes narrowed angrily, and Joey couldn't stop himself from shrinking back.

"_I_ will decide what happens to the boy, Wheeler," the King hissed, "and if you _ever_ get in the way of my wishes again, I will put you to sleep and rip all of the feathers out of that darling feather-duster of yours."

Joey, in any other situation, would've torn anyone to shreds who threatened Mai, but he didn't doubt that Bakura could back up his threats, so he forced himself to remain silent while he inwardly burned with anger and hate.

Shooting one final dangerous look at the Golden Retriever, Bakura took the ring of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door to the prison.

Ryou was hugging his knees at his seat in the corner of the prison, and when Bakura entered the prison, he looked up at him mutely before resting his forehead on his knees and looking down at his lap, hiding his face from the king.

"Get up," hissed Bakura.

Ryou didn't reply, whether in words or actions.

"_Get up_!" repeated Bakura impatiently, grabbing Ryou by his collar and pulling him off the floor roughly.

He froze, however, when he saw tears falling from the weak-looking albino's warm brown eyes.

The King didn't understand why Ryou's tears had such an impact on him, for he had seen his share of tears in his cursed palace; perhaps it was the mixture of sadness and fury in the eyes the tears had originated from.

"You really _are_ the King of Thieves, aren't you?" Ryou whispered coldly. "You've already stolen my _life_… my _freedom_…the only family I have _left_ in this world from me…and _now_ you think you can steal away my _dignity_ as well, and turn me into another servant to grovel at your feet? Well, hate to break it to you, Bakura…but I won't let you steal anything else from me."

Joey's eyes widened in both admiration and fear. He'd never heard someone stand up to Bakura like that before, let alone someone who looked as weak and acted as polite as Ryou.

Bakura looked taken aback as well; his blood-red eyes were filled with both shock and anger, and he stared at Ryou for quite a while before his pride kicked in and he remembered he wouldn't stand for such reproach for someone lower than him.

_SMACK_!

He slapped Ryou hard across the face, maiming his pure, pale cheek with a red mark that would easily become a bruise. Yet the longhaired albino didn't react with fear or pain and merely turned back to face Bakura with penetrating, expressionless eyes.

"Don't you _ever_ call me by my name, you little wretch," Bakura retorted. "You are _lucky_ that I have decided to be kind and give you a room of your own instead of making you stay here alone and cold in this prison…although you may _deserve_ to stay here, with your lack of _gratitude_. But you _might_ change my mind if you show some appreciation _now_, boy."

Ryou was quiet for a moment, before he murmured very icily, "Thank you for your consideration…_Your Highness_."

Bakura smirked, patting Ryou on the head in praise as if he were a dog that had just fetched something for his master. The action reminded Ryou angrily of Marik, and he stepped back, his chocolate eyes reproachful.

"Come with me," the cursed King muttered, turning from Ryou with a swish of his scarlet cape and heading for the door. After a few unsure seconds and half unwillingly, Ryou followed him out of the prison.

As the two white-haired young men and the Golden Retriever servant walked through the castle, Ryou observed the stone gargoyles hiding in the not-so-distant darkness of the walls around them, looking down with shining jewel eyes that could easily terrify anyone who was the least bit imaginative. Even Ryou, who was most likely the more down to earth one out of him and Amane, could feel bit intimidated at the number of ruby and amber eyes glinting down at him through the darkness. But he resolutely hid his fear, not wanting to show such weakness to his captor as he walked a few steps ahead of him, Joey by his side.

The three climbed the large staircase and turned into a few smaller hallways, At last, Bakura stopped in front of a dark green door in the East Wing of the castle and turned to Ryou straightforwardly as he turned the doorknob and shoved the door to the room open.

"Before you enter that room, pretty boy," Bakura stated haughtily when Ryou attempted to go inside, "there are a couple rules you must follow if you want to stay alive."

Ryou's face scrunched up in a mixture of confusion and irritation. _'Rules? And I thought you couldn't give me any more reasons to dislike you!'_

"First," Bakura answered Ryou's expression with condescending eyes, "you must show me respect as the king I am. You must not question my _rules_ or _me_. You should be _grateful_ I have kept you alive and should display your gratitude as much as you can as not to tempt my…_displeasure_."

'_I can't be grateful to you,'_ Ryou thought angrily, _'not when you're only trying to use me to break a curse on you and aren't trying to change the things in you that made you get cursed in the first place!'_

"Second," Bakura continued, "I don't have any _need_ for you, so you may journey the castle as you wish. You may go anywhere, except for the West Wing."

"The West Wing?" Ryou repeated curiously before he could stop himself.

Bakura's scarlet eyes grew a very menacing look that almost made the pale captive shrink back.

"It's _forbidden_," he growled dangerously.

A few fearful seconds passed, before Bakura straightened up slightly, snorted and plowed on with his rules.

"Third, if you need anything, don't address me; I don't need _another_ pitiful peasant whining for my help, I've had enough of _that_ to last a _lifetime_. Ring the bell in your room or just holler for one of the servants to come and handle your needs. Lastly, breakfast is served at 7:00 every morning, lunch is served at 12:00 noon every day, and dinner is served at 7:00 every night. _No__ exceptions_."

He reached a hand around behind Ryou and pushed him into the room; the pale librarian's assistant determinedly held back a blush from the heartless king's touch on his rear.

Bakura gave a very cold smile. "It is 6:00 now, pretty boy. I suppose you need an hour to _'freshen up'_ before you have dinner, so why don't you just sit…_DOWN_!"

Ryou found himself being thrown back into the comfy bed and heard the door slam shut behind him.

"See you at dinner, boy," scorned Bakura from behind the door.

Ryou got up from the bed and kicked the door in frustration. His foot ached afterwards, but he didn't care. His brown eyes were filled with anguish as he turned to look around the room. It was beautiful, and likely anyone else would've loved the warm burgundy color of the walls, the gold-decorated wardrobe or the dark brown bed coverings. What Ryou found a fondness for, however, was the large window that almost covered the wall opposite the door that looked out of the walls of the castle into the snowy Dark Forest. Sadly Ryou couldn't enjoy it, because the outside world blocked by glass and gold reminded him of his freedom, now sold away to a king who knew nothing of his sacrifice and could never sympathize with it.

The brown-eyed albino climbed over his large bed to look beyond the glass window at the Forest and the tiny lights that made up the largest section of White Willows. His heart ached at the thought of Amane all alone trying to make a living without his earnings as an assistant librarian and trying to take care of the house around her painting…

'_Her painting,'_ Ryou thought sorrowfully as his tears trickled down his face, thinking of the painting of their mother as an angel trying to protect her children from hell. _'Am I to be the next tragic focus for her saddest masterpieces…?'_

* * *

Little did Ryou just how bad of a time Amane was having at that very moment back in White Willows. She had been thrust into the snow in the town square by Noa, before the living carriage rode away rapidly as to avoid being seen going anywhere without being led by horses. Without thinking about Noa or about sense, the young white-haired woman had run into the large, crowded bar, pleading for someone to help her. But when she told them that Bakura of Kaitou had taken her brother captive, all of the onlookers laughed at her and assumed she was a silly little girl seeking some attention by making up crazy stories. 

At what seemed like a stroke of luck, Amane caught sight of Marik sitting with Odeon at the corner of the bar. She ran over to him, grabbing his shoulder and imploring him to help her.

Marik, however, stood abruptly and looked coldly down at her as he snatched her hand off of his shoulder and squeezed it painfully. His cold lavender eyes were slightly foggy as if he had been drinking, but he wasn't so drunk he didn't know what he was doing.

"You _dare_ to touch me as if you are even _close_ to me in stature? _You_, a poor woman who relies on Ryou-pretty to survive because she's so pathetic she can't do anything but draw little pictures?"

Amane cried out in pain as Marik's grip tightened even more.

"Now…_where is Ryou-pretty_?" the platinum-blond-haired man asked icily.

"I already _told_ you!" Amane answered desperately. "Bakura of Kaitou-"

Amane gripped his cheek as she was pushed and almost fell to the ground, but Marik's tight grip on her hand kept her from hitting the floor.

"Useless girl," scorned Marik.

He dragged her toward the door roughly by the hand so fast she couldn't get to her feet and prevent him from doing so. No one in the tavern even attempted to stand in the Egyptian's way as he pushed her face-first into the snow outside, snorted and slammed the door shut behind her.

'_Oh…what am I going to do now?'_ Amane thought to herself as she struggled to stand again. _'Maybe I should try the bookstore…no, Professor Hawkins is too old to travel through the Dark Forest in this cold, let alone fend off Bakura of Kaitou were he to find us trying to help Ryou…and Rebecca is too young…even genius intellect can't defend you from punches from a man twice your size…'_

Thinking that, the white-haired got up in new determination, her green eyes serious and her jaw set as she turned look again upon the Dark Forest.

_'Ryou…you saved me a long time ago, as Mother told you to. She told us to look after each other…I suppose things have come full circle now. Don't worry, brother…I'll save you like you saved me.'_

* * *

The light brown wardrobe in the corner of the burgundy room known as Serenity had been watching the castle's new guest as he peered out the window for quite a while now, worried he might be scared of a talking wardrobe as many other humans had been. At last her concern outweighed her worry of frightening the boy and she opened her mouth to speak. 

"Hello, sir."

As Serenity had predicted, the white-haired young man jumped. When he whirled around and saw her, however, he didn't seem very scared; if anything, he looked more like he had just realized the answer to a question he had been thinking for a while.

"'_Items no human would trust,'_" Ryou quoted Kisara from the story of Bakura of Kaitou in _"Tales of Kings,"_ "You're one of Bakura's servants, aren't you?"

Serenity blinked in surprise. "You…know about us?"

"Yeah," replied Ryou as he moved on the bed so he was fully facing the wardrobe. "I read Bakura's story in a book."

At those words, Serenity grinned in delight. "Kaiba's idea _worked_, I can't _believe_ it! Oh, I know Joey will be a little _annoyed_…but I just _can't believe it_!"

"I'm afraid I don't understand," said Ryou, awkward at not knowing why the wardrobe was so happy.

"Oh, sorry…got ahead of myself," Serenity muttered sheepishly. "You see, we were so scared that no one would be able to come here and break the spell…and we didn't know how we could contact anyone and get help. Then Kaiba…that's our chief researcher and historian…suggested we write something in the newspaper. But Joey…my big brother…he's the only one of us who is big enough to hold a pencil and has something _close_ to hands to write with, so he wrote it and delivered it to the local newspaper. But we heard that the people who read our story simply got a good laugh out of it, calling it a fairy tale and pushing it aside…but it seems _someone_ liked the story enough and rewrote it in the book you read! Maybe _that_ means someone could come here and help Bakura break the spell if you…" she suddenly realized what she had started to say and quickly tried to cover it up, "um, I mean…never mind."

Ryou decided to ignore Serenity's thought about him helping Bakura break the spell, for he personally thought no one in the world could redeem such a cruel, inconsiderate person. Fortunately at that moment, there was a quiet knock at the door that gave him an excuse not to say so.

The albino got up and opened the door to seemingly find no one. Then he looked down to see a ballerina doll with short brown hair and blue eyes and a feather duster with long gold hair and violet eyes brush past his legs, helping each other carry a cup of tea into the room before finally setting it on the floor.

"Hello, hon," greeted the feather duster in a no-nonsense voice. "Tea thought you might want some tea to recuperate from Bakura being such an asshole-"

"I didn't say it in those _words_, Mai," Tea interrupted under her breath, sweatdropping slightly and looking irritated.

"-So I decided to be nice and help her bring this along up for you," Mai finished as if Tea hadn't spoken.

"All you wanted to get a good look at our guest," Tea muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, but I could've done that without helping you," Mai pointed out coolly.

Ryou smiled slightly in gratitude and picked the cup of tea off the floor, bringing it into his lap. "Thank you…that was very considerate of you."

"Don't thank us _yet_, honey," Mai advised as she started heading out the door again. "You've _still_ got a whole dinner to sit out with the King of Crabbiness…"

"_Mai_!" Tea scolded, before looking at Ryou with a kinder face and adding, "Don't listen to her…Bakura might be tough on the outside…_alright_, maybe more like a total _jerk_…but things will turn out alright in the end, you'll see."

She looked up at the clock on the left wall of Ryou's room and reacted with surprise. "Oh, I forgot about the time! See you at dinner in five minutes, sir!"

And with that, the ballerina doll gave a great jeté and left the room.

Closing the door behind her gently, Ryou looked at the clock as well, but in a very brooding way, before his eyes narrowed in dislike and he sat back down on his bed to look out the window.

'_Bakura of Kaitou can have his own crabby dinner by himself. I'll spend the night right here, in this room, and as far away from him as possible.'_


	7. Chapter 5: A Cage for Two

_**Chapter Five: A Cage for Two**_

Atem, Yugi, Joey, Tea and Mai watched hesitantly as the cursed King of Thieves paced impatiently near his chair on the far end of the long dinner table in the dining hall. Once and a while Bakura would glare at the clock or at the empty chair on the other side of the table with a full setting in front of it, but he didn't say a word until he finally stopped pacing and looked at the door, his eyes slits.

"Why am I _still_ _waiting_?" he hissed angrily. "I told him to come down…_why isn't he here yet_?" he snapped at his servants.

"Try to be _patient_, Your Highness," Yugi advised worriedly. "Our guest is probably _homesick_…he _did_ lost his freedom, home and family all in one day."

Atem nodded, but looked a little more reproachful toward Bakura's anger. "You're going to have to be _patient_ with him, if you think he'll be of _any_ help to you in breaking the spell…you can't order or bribe someone to love you."

Bakura growled angrily. "If I can't order or bribe, what do you _expect_ me to do?"

"Well, you can _start_ by standing up straight and showing some _manners_," scorned Mai. "At least _try_ to be a gentleman, will you?"

Joey nodded. "Just think: if _you_ show some love to _him,_ and _he_ shows some love to _you_, then _poof_! The spell will be broken! We'll be human again by midnight!"

"Don't say things like that, Joey!" chided Tea.

"Tea's right, Joey," Yugi assented. "Love takes _time_…and they have to be in love with each other, not just friends or boyfriends."

"But we don't _have_ that kind of time!" Joey argued. "The rose is turning brown and _wilting_…Bakura will be twenty-three by the end of this year!"

"It's no use…"

The servants looked up from their conversation at Bakura, who, instead of looking angry, actually had misery in his blood-red eyes as he looked out the stained glass window.

"He could never love me…he's so _innocent_, _unsoiled_…and I'm…_irredeemable_."

There was a very awkward silence, before Yugi hopped on his pedestal over to Bakura and put a porcelain hand on his ankle in an attempt to comfort him.

"Your Highness, you're _not_ irredeemable…you've made mistakes in your life, but you still have a chance to make things right before the last petal falls from the enchanted rose. If you had no hope of redemption, then why would Kisara have given you a chance to _change_?"

Bakura moved away from Yugi and closer to the window as if disliking his display of sympathy.

"You don't know what you're talking about, runt. That bitch cursed me because she knew I wouldn't be able to change and she wanted me to _suffer_…just like everyone else in this damn kingdom before they all ran away."

"So you'll give in to her?" Atem inquired, hopping over to Yugi and putting his arms around him while giving Bakura an irritated look. "I never knew you to be a _quitter_."

"That's because I am _not_ a quitter!" snapped Bakura, looking away from the window for the first time in minutes and sounding angry.

"Then _prove_ it!" Atem hissed. "If you're _not_ a quitter, prove to Kisara and everyone else that you _can_ change."

Tea nodded in agreement. "And you won't do that if you don't at least _try_ to reach out to Ryou."

Joey, Mai and Yugi nodded as well. Bakura glared down at Atem for a long time, before he spoke again.

"I really should burn both you and your runt boyfriend for such _disrespect_…but I _won't_, because I think fire wouldn't be a suitable enough punishment and I shouldn't waste my brain energy thinking of something else when I have to work on breaking the curse."

Yugi smiled slightly as Bakura went back to his seat at the dining table. Even though Bakura was by nature a very cruel person, he sometimes masked gratitude and other more positive feelings by threatening or insulting them, simply because he didn't know how to express such feelings. Yugi hoped, however, that if Bakura started to open up to Ryou, maybe the pale albino could encourage those positive feelings to shine through.

Abruptly the handle on the dining room door rattled as the door opened. Bakura and the servants' heads all shot in its direction, but were disappointed by the entrance of Tristan and Seto.

"Er…good evening," Tristan greeted hesitantly.

Bakura had a very sour look on his face. "_Well_?"

Tristan flinched at the irritation in his tone. "W-well what?"

"_Where is he_?" Bakura hissed violently.

"_Who_…? O-oh, the _boy_!" realized Tristan, shaking so much his pieces of armor was clanking together. "Er…um…well…h-he's in the process of…um…circumstances being what they are, he…uh…"

Seto rolled his eyes at Tristan's behavior.

"_What_?" shouted Bakura.

"He's not coming," Seto answered in an immediate, dull fashion.

There was a very dangerous silence.

Then Bakura exploded.

"_WHAAAAAAAAAT_?"

The King of Thieves roughly shoved Tristan out of the way, slammed the dining room doors open and ran up the stairs toward Ryou's room. In alarm, his servants followed him, calling after him.

"_Your Highness_, _stop_!" barked Joey.

"_Think before you act_!" yelled Atem.

When Bakura reached Ryou's room, he slammed his fist violently against the door in three fierce knocks.

"I thought I told you to come down to _dinner_!" he growled fiercely.

Inside Ryou turned away from the door, his nose turned up in anger.

"I'm not hungry," he answered coldly.

Bakura looked ready to kill; Yugi tugged at the King's pant leg desperately.

"_Please_, Your Highness…_try_ to be sympathetic to him-"

Bakura kicked Yugi away, his red eyes flashing dangerously, before he seized the doorknob and yanking the door off its hinges in a single inhuman motion.

Ryou was surprised by this movement and looked at Bakura in a mixture of alarm and repulsion.

The King of Thieves strode over and grabbed the pale bookworm's collar, bringing their faces close together and making their eyes lock, brown on red.

"_Your Highness_!" Tea cried.

"For such a pathetic _weakling_, you are being _very_ difficult," Bakura whispered dangerously. "Tell me…are you _suicidal_? If you want to _die_ so much, you should just _say_ so and not cause me grief."

Ryou's eyes narrowed. "Are you _unable_ to be considerate? If you want to remain cursed so much, you should just let me go and not cause _me_ grief."

Tea, Serenity and Yugi gave gasps at Ryou's words; Mai and Atem were smiling, glad Bakura could finally be put in his place; Bakura's eyes widened fiercely.

"I'm _warning_ you, boy…while you are in _my_ castle, you'll obey _my_ rules. First rule, I'm sure you remember, is to give me _respect_, and if you have problems _remembering_ that, don't doubt that I can pound it into you."

"Because _that's_ how you solve _all_ your problems," snapped Ryou. "You're so immature you think that _pain_ will get people to do whatever you want! I'm surprised _anyone_ can tolerate you…your servants aren't still here with you simply because of _loyalty_!"

"What do you mean by _that_, you little wretch?" snarled Bakura.

"Haven't you ever considered that they feel anything _less_ than contentment being here in this castle?" demanded Ryou. "Haven't you even _once_ considered their feelings at _all_?"

"What _crap_!" the King of Thieves snapped. "What's the point of wasting your time thinking about peoples' _feelings_?"

"They think about _yours_!"

"I'm _King_! I deserve nothing but the best; they're just lowly _servants_!"

"That attitude is _exactly_ what made you get cursed in the _first_ place! Your servants are still with you because _you're_ their only hope to become _human_ again! _They_ can't go out into the outside world either, but _they_ didn't even do anything _wrong_! You changed them into what they are…they have every right to be bitter towards you…and yet they've stayed to help you break the curse because they know you can't do it alone! Can you _honestly_ say that you would do the same thing for them?"

Bakura was silent for a moment, looking down at Ryou with his most deadly eyes. The servant onlookers were entranced by this conflicting exchange.

"You think you know _anything_?" the King whispered in a very cruel whisper. "You have _no_ right to judge me! You have _no_ idea what I've been through."

"Elucidate me," challenged Ryou.

Bakura's eyes flashed. "You have _no_ idea what it's like to lose everything you have! You have _no_ idea what it's like to lose all respect, all _dignity_…to be completely _alone_ while in a room full of people…to be _trapped_ in your own home…to be a…a…!"

"Prisoner?" Ryou finished as a sad murmur.

Bakura froze. It was very clear he had been going to say _"beast," _but at Ryou's interruption, his rising anger died almost instantly.

"Kisara is not trapping any of us here," Ryou continued quietly. "Kisara is not the captor here…_you_ are…because you have the chance to change, but you're so selfish you won't even try so that your servants can feel freedom again."

There was a very long silence. Atem and Yugi exchanged a concerned look. Bakura peered at Ryou with unfathomable eyes, before he whispered at last,

"This is your opinion of me?"

"Yes," Ryou replied coldly.

"So you won't come down to dinner?"

"No."

Bakura finally let go of Ryou's collar, slamming his feet back against the floor without any protection so that Ryou's ankles and feet held a twinge of pain.

"Very well."

And with that, the cursed King swept from the room in an oddly mild way. Atem, Yugi, Joey, Tea and Mai followed him hesitantly out the door.

Ryou wondered for a moment whether his words had really made an influence on Bakura.

Those thoughts disappeared, however, when Bakura picked up the door on the floor, fixed it back onto its hinges and slammed it shut.

Ryou ran over to the door in alarm.

"_Wait_! What are you _doing_?"

"You don't eat with _me_, pretty boy," Bakura's voice hissed from behind the door as it locked with a click, "you don't eat at _all_."

"_Your Highness_-!" Joey and Yugi both tried to protest.

"_BAKURA_!" Ryou shouted, for the first time in their argument sounding very angry as he slammed the door with his fist. "YOU LET ME OUT OF HERE! LET ME OUT!"

"Not until you cooperate," growled Bakura.

"BAKURA, I'M _SERIOUS_!" Ryou cried. "LET ME OUT…_LET ME OUT_!"

But Bakura didn't listen.

Ryou looked around the room, eyes wide with the fear of a child. The walls were closing in…the darkness was strangling him…

'_Not again…not again…!' _

Images of being trapped in a dark room with no toys or life around it flashed through Ryou's mind rapidly in succession, sometimes accompanied by a deep, angry voice scolding bad behavior.

"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" screamed Ryou, pounding on the door again desperately. "LET ME _OUT_!"

Serenity watched in horror as the albino crumpled onto the floor by the door like a little child, crying and shaking in fear.

"_Daddy_…let me…out…Dad…let me out…"

It was as if Ryou were a little child trapped in a nightmare, detached from all sense and reality.


End file.
